What If
by Fourth Season
Summary: This is a one-shot for the contest held by Amberstorm233 for her story Reaper! (Actual Summary time) What if, in the opening battle, Honeyflight had never died and been reborn as Emberkit? What if, instead of following the path she was supposed to walk, she took a wrong turn and was carried away? What if... (Rated T to be safe and for violence)


**This took quite a bit of time, was pretty much an idea that just popped into my head suddenly when I was trying to think of a "What If" that actually had a good plot to it, and is a _whopping_ 4,659 words! That's the most I've ever written for a single chapter! XD Though, that's probably because I wanted it to be a one-shot :P Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, Amber, and any other readers who come upon this! **

* * *

Honeyflight tore through the thick of battle, clawing and biting the Shadowclan warriors that dared come near her. With the skill of many lives of training roaring through her, the honey brown she-cat fought off any and all that opposed her. And after seemingly hours of battle, the tide of dark cats seemed to be falling back, and she felt a yowl of triumph rise in her throat.

That was when she heard the scream.

_Adderspot's scream._

Whipping around, she watched as her beloved friend—no, not just that; he was much more than a friend, she realized at that moment—lay pinned underneath the merciless claws of a black tom, his chrome eyes glinting viciously as he slashed and slashed into the black-spotted Windclan warrior's stomach. Blood poured into the heather, staining it a demonic red. Wails erupted into the sky, tearing from Adderspot's throat as he struggled to break free. But he was growing weaker by the second. If someone didn't help soon, he'd die; there was no way that Adderspot would last much longer under the black tom's endless barrage of hacking.

It was at that moment that the Shadowclan attacker lifted his face, and recognition flooded through Honeyflight.

She knew that tom.

_Beetlepelt!_

Fury filled Honeyflight, and her vision went as red as the blood spilling on the moor. She was just about to race over and throw the accursed Shadowclan cat away from her friend when another shriek split through the air. Pivoting to seek out the source, the green-eyed she-cat found herself staring as her leader, Featherstar, was pinned to the ground by the Shadowclan deputy, Cedarpelt. The sandy-furred tabby she-cat threw her weight down on the pale grey leader over and over, crushing her rib cage and expelling the breath from her lungs. Featherstar's green eyes began to grow dim under the volley of powerful attacks, and her black stripes ceased to move as her body grew limp. The cracking of bones sounded across the plain as the elderly Windclan she-cat's body gave in. The window of opportunity was closing swiftly.

And that left Honeyflight with a choice: Adderspot, or Featherstar.

Her heart thumping, her blood pounding in her ears, the tabby warrior desperately looked around for anyone, anyone to help. She yowled at the top of her lungs, cried out for anyone, even threw dirt into the air, but it was to no avail. The help never came.

_She had to choose._

With tears in her eyes, Honeyflight turned her back on Featherstar and sprinted to Adderspot's side, barreling into Beetlepelt and sending him sprawling with such an explosion of force and an enormous crack that he lay there, unmoving. Honeyflight then stood over the dark brown tom, struggling to remember the ways to stop blood flow without cobwebs on paw that she had learned so long ago in her life as a medicine cat.

It was at that moment of hesitation that another Shadowclan warrior looked away from her battle and yowled in outrage. The black she-cat swung a mighty paw across her opponent's—Petalheart's—head, causing blood to well up from her skull as she fell with a thud to the ground, and charged at Honeyflight. With yellow eyes like the blazing of a wildfire and snarls of anguish like the thundering of a monster, the black she-cat cried out her hate and pain to the world. She had lost something precious, was ready to kill.

Was_ going _to kill.

Stunned, Honeyflight could only watch as the she-cat, whom she now recognized as Breezesong, came at her in a maddened, virulent blitz. One more moment, and the green-eyed warrior would've met the same fate as Beetlepelt.

But that was when Morningpaw flung herself at Breezesong with the fierce yowl of a badger.

The pale sandy apprentice tore and ripped at the larger Shadowclan warrior's back, trying desperately to redirect the furious she-cat's course away from Honeyflight. But Breezesong was much stronger than she, and the Windclan apprentice's green eyes soon dimmed in death as she was flung to the ground with a sickening crunch.

"_No!_" Honeyflight wailed, tears flooding to her eyes, "_MORNINGPAW!_"

With a rancorous shriek, the honey brown she-cat threw herself at the Shadowclan warrior, her blood boiling with rage. She pinned Breezesong and dug her claws into her throat, squeezing the life out of her for what she'd done. Her first kill as Mosspaw flashed before her eyes, screaming at her to stop, to stop and not keep going, but Honeyflight had tasted love, hate, and first blood. There was no stopping her now.

Even when the sounds of the battle faded away and the body beneath her long lay cold she did not release her claws from the chrome-eyed Shadowclan cat's throat. Breezesong would pay in death for what she'd done! Honeyflight would follow her to the depths of the Dark Forest if she had to! Rage was overflowing within her, and _nothing _was going to get in her way!

It was the woeful cry that finally snapped her out of it.

"_Mother! Sister!_" Blizzardsong howled, running to her kin's sides. "Who has done this!? They will _pay!_"

Her yellow eyes glared with malice, her grey and white pelt taut with wrath as she stood over Featherstar and Petalheart. She looked ready to kill someone.

Honeyflight looked down and realized that that was exactly what she had done. After so long of trying to stay good, she'd given in to her inner monster.

_Why? Why now?_ She cried out inside, _Why did I do this?!_

Adderspot's sudden moan of pain pulled her out of her gloom, and she rushed to his side. _At least I saved him,_ she thought.

"A—Adderspot," she mewed softly, "I-It's gonna be okay. I promise. You'll be fine; you'll see."

He looked up at her through filmed amber eyes and choked out an, "I trust you, Honeyflight," before losing consciousness.

"Adderspot!" Blizzardsong's yowl broke through the silence that followed as she rushed over to her brother's side. Pressing an ear to his chest, the grey and white warrior desperately searched for a heartbeat. Sighing in relief when she found it, she stood up and whispered, "Thank Starclan you're okay."

For a moment, her yellow eyes had returned to their usual tender, warm selves, but that moment was gone in a flash, and the rage of loss filled her gaze once again.

"How did this happen!?" she snarled, eyes raking across the congregation of beaten clanmates around her.

Honeyflight watched in anguish as Sharppaw, a dark brown tabby apprentice with amber eyes, shuffled forward and mewed, "It was Honeyflight's fault."

With a gasp, all eyes were on her, and the honey brown she-cat froze in fear. No one had come to her aid, so she'd thought no one was watching.

Apparently, she had been wrong.

"_How,_" Blizzardsong hissed, her voice falling dangerously low as she narrowed her eyes at her clanmate.

"S-she could've saved Featherstar," Sharppaw continued, his voice rising in volume. Blizzardsong recoiled with a disgusted expression. "But she abandoned her and ran to Adderspot instead, killing Beetlepelt in the process." At this, all of Windclan let out another gasp, and Honeyflight felt enraged eyes bore into her. "That made Breezesong angry, and she killed Petalheart because of Honeyflight!" Honeyflight could feel the hatred flowing off of Windclan and Blizzardsong in waves. "Then Morningpaw tried to save her, and Breezesong killed her because she got in the way." More gasps, more stares. "I saw Honeyflight kill Breezesong too! And then Shadowclan retaliated and killed Redberry and Snowpaw as they tried to help our injured cats!" His accusation rang through the silent battlefield.

The Windclan cats yowled in an uproar, and the weight of her actions crashed down upon Honeyflight. She looked up to see the bodies of the medicine cat and her apprentice at the paws of their kin, Morningpaw's still form, Featherstar's mutilated body, and Petalheart's broken skull, and realized just how much her actions had cost. Guilt weighed on her back like a boulder, and she stared down at her blood-soaked paws, at the lives she had dispersed with those paws. _One more disaster,_ she thought, _to add to my generous supply._ Remembering all of the lights she had put out, all of the evil she had wrought in her past lives, Honeyflight felt rage and sadness in her heart—a deadly combination.

"Honeyflight, is this true?" she heard Sleetfeather ask tentatively, her orange eyes wide, as if not sure whether to believe it or not.

Closing her eyes, the tabby warrior choked out a whispered, "Yes."

All of Windclan gasped in unison, insults and accusations flying at her like shots from a twoleg stick. Even the usually kind deputy, Sleetfeather, yowled curses. Throughout it all, Honeyflight remained quivering, head bowed, as the barrage of yowls and snarls battered her heart, her soul, her mind.

_Why? Why me? Why can't I just live one happy life? Just one!_

The steady tide of taunting and abuse kept on pounding as the clan returned to their camp—loaded with the dead and injured alike—and their dens. The dead were placed in the middle of the open camp, the warriors on guard duty and the others that had stayed behind rushing to them as they were laid down. Cries of woe and pain sounded from the throats of loved ones who stood over the bodies of their friends and kin. The sadness was too much to bear.

So Honeyflight didn't bear it.

Taking a position several tail-lengths behind Blizzardsong, the tabby she-cat quietly followed her into the medicine cat den—a crevice in the rock of the one of the boulders dotting around the camp—and mutely stood by as Adderspot was laid in one of the vacant nests. Normally, wounded cats would be flooding in here to see the medicine cat, but Redberry was gone—she wasn't coming back. It was just Honeyflight now, and the herbs she had memorized in a life so long ago seemed a distant, foggy memory.

"Get. Out." the grey and white she-cat hissed, noticing the warrior's presence with narrowing yellow eyes.

"No, Blizzardsong," Honeyflight said strongly, her voice and green eyes determined, set. "I'm staying."

"I told you to get out!" Blizzardsong snarled, "This wouldn't've happened if it weren't for you!"

With this, Honeyflight could hold in the anger no longer. "Adderspot would be dead if it wasn't for me!"

Their eyes met, yellow against green, both burning with the fierceness of lions. The message was clear: _keep going, I dare you. It won't end well, trust me._

"And how many others would be alive right now?" Blizzardsong growled, "My mother and my sister are _dead _because of you!"

"I never meant for that to happen."

_"__But it happened!"_ The deceased leader's daughter's voice rose, her claws unsheathing and her eyes igniting even more than could be possible. "And it's all your fault! They're _dead!_ They're _never_ coming back! _Ever!_ And it's _all! You're! Fault!_"

"_NO! IT'S! NOT!_" Honeyflight yowled, lashing out a paw. Claws met fur and flesh, and Blizzardsong went staggering back, four long gashes oozing blood across her cheek.

"YOU FILTHY _FOX-HEART!_" the other she-cat shrieked, baring her teeth and lashing her tail furiously.

"You don't know me!" Honeyflight screamed, "_No one knows me!_"

"You're a murderer is what you are! A disgrace to Windclan!"

"WELL I'M THE ONLY CAT THAT CAN SAVE ADDERSPOT!"

Blizzardsong snorted disdainfully, her voice lowering. "You can't do anything but destroy."

_You don't know how right you are, _the honey brown she-cat thought as she shoved past the Windclan warrior to search through the herbal stores, not offering any further comment. She was going to save Adderspot if it was the last thing she did.

Grabbing the cobwebs and foxglove leaves, Honeyflower returned to Adderspot's side and began to try and treat him. Oh, if only she had remembered correctly at that moment that foxglove was highly dangerous and only to be used as a last resort. If only she'd recalled that she'd used it to purposefully kill off those that had wronged her so long ago—that she'd remembered the herb because it was once such a vital instrument in her killings.

But she didn't realize it until two days later.

"_You've killed him!_" screeched Blizzardsong from within the recesses of the rock, startling Honeyflight awake as she lay in the middle of camp.

The light was that of pre-dawn. The sun was still hidden in its den over the horizon. Stars glared down at the tabby warrior with loathing as she jolted upwards with fear in her heart. The icy grip of it permeated her veins as the wails of anguish erupted from within the medicine cat den, sounding from the throats of more Windclan cats that had joined their clanmate. Honeyflight could only stare in agony as they hauled Adderspot's black-spotted body out of the den. She'd tried so hard—so, so hard—done everything she could, used every herb she could remember.

And that was when it hit her.

"_ADDERSPOT!_" she cried out, willing her legs to carry her to him. But they stood as trees, unresponsive and unmoving.

She never even had the chance to see him before the accusations started.

"You _monster!_ What have you _done!?_" Blizzardsong shrieked, starting the cacophony of voices.

"She killed him on purpose!"

"She fed him deathberries!"

"She's _evil!_"

"She's _worse_ than evil! She's _wicked!_"

The whole clan turned on her, and that was when the tears started, when her heart hardened. Where once was light, the darkness fell. Where once was love, love was no more. Her only friend was gone. She was alone now. And in that instant, she now knew the truth; there was no point in _waiting_ to face the end alone, trying to be good—not with Adderspot gone. There was now nothing standing in her way, nothing keeping her from returning to the darkness she knew so well.

And so, Honeyflight let the hate in.

"All I ever did was try to help him," she growled, her voice full of scorn, "But you _fools_ can't see that! I guess nothing good goes unpunished. No act of kindness goes unresented."

Honeyflight backed slowly, purposefully away from them, her blazing green eyes full of contempt, until she stood at the top of the shallow dip that was the Windclan camp. She felt the morning sun rising behind her, shadowing her features sharply as she snarled to the congregation.

"My path of good led where it always leads—disaster. I should've known it was too good to be true." Cackling, she smiled maliciously down at them. "I was just seeking attention. That's all good is; I see now. You're all just foolish kits looking for attention! Too fox-brained to open your eyes and see the truth!"

They all started yowling at her, flinging the harshest insults and most horrible of curses. _Let them curse_, Honeyflight thought, basking in it all. _If they want wicked, they'll get wicked._

A twisted smile cracked across her face, glinting viciously—wickedly—in the half-light. "Adderspot is dead! That is as true as this: no good deed goes unpunished! All acts of good are just _lies!_ _Filthy, crow-food-infested lies! _I meant well; I tried to help, but _everything_ was taken from me! Isn't that proof enough that _there is no good in this world?_"

They started disputing amongst themselves at this, shocked beyond measure at her sudden transformation from the sweet, caring she-cat they once knew into this—this monster. It irked her so that they were too blind to make the distinction. It seemed she'd have to say it plainly so that their little pea-brained heads could finally get it. The Honeyflight they knew was not coming back.

"Let all of you be agreed," she yowled, eyes glinting, "I'm as wicked as they come! Because I could not save Adderspot, I have nothing left in me but _darkness,_ so I swear to you! I will never do anything good _ever again! _You can count on that!" She paused, letting them squabble like squirrels in the tense moment of time she allowed them. "And you can count on this too; I _will _get my revenge! I will plague you. I will kill you. I will make your lives miserable. I will succeed Mapleshade in her reign of terror! None of you will be safe! Not your elders! Not your queens! Not your kits! NO ONE WILL ESCAPE ME! _NO ONE!_"

She cackled maniacally, embracing the insane, the evil, the dark, the wicked, and ran off into the sun. No one followed her. No one challenged her. No one came after her. She was left unopposed to do her bidding.

And though she disappeared, she didn't disappear from their lives; she made sure to keep her promise.

. . .

It was the dead of night. Not a light shined. Not a star in the sky twinkled. Not even the moon glowed in the sky.

_A darkness had fallen upon them all._

All alone, a pale grey she-cat tossed and turned in her nest, the visions behind her eyelids screaming nightmares of terror.

Left—blackness.

Right—blackness.

Maniacal, rasping laugher followed her wherever she went—always around the corner, always ready to strike.

_There was no escape._

She felt the freezing bite of stone surrounding her, boxing her in, snatching away any chance of freedom. The air grew still, silent.

_Too silent._

Trapped, she was the only source of sound. She heard every breath, every heartbeat, every movement she made, even every flicking dart of her orange eyes. But the endlessly repeating pounding of her heart rose above all.

_Bum … ba-dum … ba-dum ... ba-dum…_

_Bum … ba-dum … ba-dum ... ba-dum…_

_Bum … ba-dum … ba-dum ... ba-dum…_

Suddenly, malicious eyes flashed in the darkness.

The grey she-cat tried to shrink back in terror, but she was cornered. There was no way out.

The eyes grew closer, their malignant color a wicked shade of green.

The she-cat felt her heart rate increase. All she could her was the booming of it.

_Bum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! _

_Bum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!_

_BUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM!_

The black outline of a cat emerged from the shadows, a twisted smile on its face.

"I told you I would get my revenge," it cackled, raising a paw.

A flash of pain … and then … nothing ….

. . .

A grey and white warrior exited the den of its group and padded calmly across camp, unaware of the figure lurking in the darkness that was stalking her every move with virulence in its heart.

She ducked her head into the new Leader's den in the old medicine cat rock and called out, "Sleetfeather? Are you there? It's time to go to the Moonpool and receive your nine—"

With a gasp, the warrior froze, the rancid, metallic odor of blood filling her nostrils.

"Sleetfeather! Are you okay?!" She rushed to the pale grey she-cat's barely visible form, removing herself from the entrance and letting in the very faint light of the night sky.

Outlined by the dim glow, collapsed in the middle of the den, lay Sleetfeather, her orange eyes open wide with horror. Her body was still, the life gone from it, wrenched away. Her claws were extended in terror, and her legs were twisted in a broken heap. But worst of all was the blood. There were no marks on the pale grey she-cat's body, no signs of struggle, no signs of an attack. And yet, there was blood. It dripped from her mouth, staining the area around it with a putrid red ooze, releasing a foul, unnatural stench into the air.

The warrior jolted back in revulsion and dread. _What creature could have done this?_

An almost silent, dry snickering echoed around her, as if to answer her thoughts.

"Show yourself!" she grey and white she-cat yowled, amber eyes wide. A chilling breeze blew across her, sending her fur bristling and claws unsheathed.

"_I warned you_," the voice answered. Low and dangerous, it seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"I said show yourself!" the warrior repeated again, her blood freezing over in fear. How could she fight something she couldn't see?

There was no answer other than the sudden explosion of agony on the side of her head. With a cry of pain, she reached up a paw to find a gaping hole.

Her ear was gone, replaced by a mutilated stump.

_"__Ha ha ha!"_ the voice cackled, "You wouldn't listen, you fool!"

Another burst of pain, another ear ripped away.

Tears came to the grey and white she-cat's eyes. "W—why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?"

_"__YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"_

The warrior screamed as her leg was wrenched out from under her with a bone-crushing snap. She shrieked as the unbearable throes of agony scored through her body, her leg laying limp and twisted at her side. She heaved in gulps of air and screeched bloody murder, but no one came.

"Now you will know what it is to feel true suffering, Blizzardsong!" the voice yowled.

Slowly, Blizzardsong watched through tear-blurred eyes as the figure emerged from the shadows, its eyes blazing with rage.

"H—Honeyflight," she cried, her voice growing smaller as her lifeblood drained from her veins.

"Yes, Blizzardsong," the wicked she-cat snarled, "You foolish kit! Die slow! Die young! Feel my pain! FEEL MY AGONY!"

With an ear-blasting screech, Honeyflight whipped around and ran off into the night, leaving Blizzardsong to suffer a cruel, creeping demise.

. . .

After that first attack, Honeyflight remained in hiding, operating secretly—undetected. She made sure the life of Windclan was slow, painful death. Everywhere cats turned, clanmates were dropping. Slowly, painfully, loved ones would fall. Elders were unheard of, kits rarely survived the first days of life, and queens and warriors alike found themselves plagued by nightmares as Honeyflight reached into the black power of the Dark Forest and haunted their dreams. Without their medicine cats, there was no one to save those who became sick, and Windclan was leaderless and starving, for anyone who stepped up to the position was quickly tortured and disposed of, and all of the prey in their territory was poisoned and inedible—Honeyflight had seen to that. Whenever they would ask the other clans for help, Honeyflight would harness the darkness and walk in their medicine cat's dreams, warning them that helping Windclan would end in the doom of their own.

And so, she remained untouchable.

Untouchable until Starclan had decided they'd had enough.

The starry cats, in one final gambit, granted the power of light to a young Thunderclan cat in hopes to oppose her. At the time, Honeyflight thought nothing of it. There was nothing they could do to stop her, she believed. She was untouchable,_ invincible_.

_But she was wrong._

. . .

One fateful day, while the green-eyed creature of evil was lounging in her stone-walled lair after a particularly satisfying haunting, a blast of rocks shattered the boulder guarding the entrance to her cave. Light flooded into the room, disturbing the beautiful blackness and outlining the form of a young warrior as she stalked—battle ready—into the gigantic den.

"So this is who they send," Honeyflight cackled as she got to her paws from her lounging position, her green eyes raking over the Thunderclan cat in front of her. "Pitiful."

The dark grey she-cat snarled, her fur bristling in anger. "I'm more than enough to take you on! You're nothing but Dark Forest scum!"

Honeyflight snickered, her wickedly white smile carving across her otherwise beautiful features. "Foolish kit, you don't know how right you are."

In a flash, she lashed out a shadow-covered paw and sent the would-be hero smashing into the cavern wall with a delightful crack of stone and bone. But to her irritation, the white-bellied warrior got to her feet and dusted herself off, green eyes glowing with life.

"Is that all you got?" she challenged, black tipped-tail lashing.

"That," Honeyflight countered, not missing a beat, "Was kit's play."

Growling, the warrior charged at the dark she-cat once again, and Honeyflight waited until the last moment to reach into the power of the Dark Forest and spring fox-lengths into the air before crashing down on the Thunderclan cat's back, smashing her into the stony floor.

Cracks spider-webbed around her, but the dark grey she-cat just spat and burst up to throw the honey brown tabby off. She snorted and raised a brow, unfazed.

Enraged now, Honeyflight yowled furiously and attacked in a blitz, barreling the Thunderclan warrior over and ripping, tearing, and biting at everything she could. She yowled in triumph as she felt the warm gush of blood under her claws and in her mouth as she crunched down on a black-tipped ear with unnatural, serrated teeth and scored her hind claws down the dark grey she-cat's back and flank. With a cry of pain, the Thunderclan cat violently shook herself, dislodging Honeyflight, and retreated a few paces away.

"Is that all you've got?" Honeyflight provoked, green eyes blazing with exultance, "I've fought _kits_ better than you!"

The white-chested warrior howled in outrage and charged again, getting slammed aside by the same shadow-tainted paw as the first time. She hit the floor with a resounding crack and didn't get up. Her chest heaved up and down with breaths, and Honeyflight could _feel_ the she-cat's heart beating rapidly, could almost taste victory! The wicked tabby cat cackled maliciously and sauntered over, smashing her paw down on the dark grey Thunderclan warrior's wounded side with the sound of more cracking bones.

At the sound of a strangled cry of pain, Honeyflight smirked and whispered into the she-cat's ear, "Better luck next time, hero. Oh, wait. There won't be a next time. Only_ I_ get to be the reaper."

"Y-your wrong," the she-cat breathed, gasping for breath.

Amused, Honeyflight crooned, "Oh, am I? And how would you know this? You're nothing but a carrionplace rat."

"No, I—I'm not." She seemed to gain strength with each word, and Honeyflight flinched back as light emanated from her body and she rose to her feet. "I. Am. EMBERSONG!"

A blast of raw light and power erupted from her, exploding Honeyflight into the far cavern wall. As the warrior steadily drew closer, her walking pace slow and deliberate, Honeyflight felt herself burning. For the first time in seasons, she felt the cold sting fear clench her heart.

"No! No! No! GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shrieked, pushing up against the wall, trying to run to the now nonexistent shadows as Embersong became nearer with each passing moment.

"FROM SHADOWS YOU CAME, SHADOWS YOU WILL BECOME!" Embersong said in the deep, echoing, booming voices of a thousand cats, the power of the stars shining in her eyes, "YOU WILL NOT RETURN! THIS IS YOUR FINAL MOMENT!"

_"__NO!"_ Honeyflight screeched, using all of the power she had, blackening every inch of her soul in an attempt to survive, clinging to the dwindling shreds of life.

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN GOOD, COULD HAVE LIVED. IF YOU HAD CHOSEN THE LIFE OF A WARRIOR, YOU WOULD'VE BEEN REBORN AS THE VERY CAT THAT IS THE CAUSE OF YOUR DEMISE. INSTEAD, YOU CHOSE SELFISHNESS AND EVIL. _WE CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO LIVE ANY LONGER!"_ the voices rose in a crescendo, and Honeyflight screamed in agony as a radiant beam of pure starlight enveloped her, burning away every piece of her body and soul.

And so, in those last few, torturous moments, Honeyflight felt herself smirking at the irony of it all. She wouldn't be coming back in a body of flesh and blood, but this wasn't over. After all….

_Death is only the beginning._


End file.
